427 Convertible Celebrates 60th Anniversary Of The Corvette

When the Chevy Corvette first debuted in showrooms in 1952, it was available only as a droptop, and only with a pitiful six-cylinder “Blue Flame” engine. Flash forward 60 years, and GM now offers a wide range of Corvette models, all of them V8 powered. With the Corvette set to celebrate 60 years of production this year, GM has announced a special anniversary Corvette, the 427 Convertible. It’s the fastest droptop Corvette GM has ever built. It will debut at next weekend’s Barrett-Jackson event.

The 427 Convertible Corvette will bring together the Corvette’s two top performance models, the Z06 and ZR1, into one car. As you might imagine, the 427 Convertible gets the Z06’s 7.0 liter, 505 horsepower V8 engine, which makes it the most powerful engine GM has ever offered in a convertible Corvette (both the Z06 and ZR1 are only available as coupes.) The only transmission option is a six-speed manual.

The 427 Convertible will be the most powerful Corvette drop top ever offered by Chevy.

The driveline and rear end are also borrowed from the Z06, as well as parts from the Z06 Carbon Edition, like a carbon fiber raised hood, fenders, and floor panels. All that weight reduction brings the 427 convertible down to just 3,355 pounds, allowing for a quarter mile sprint of 11.8 seconds, a top speed of 190 MPH, and lateral acceleration of 1.04g. That’s one fast convertible, with a power-to-weight ratio of 6.64 pounds for every pony. Happy birthday Corvette!